Martin Samuel on England and Auschwitz

[Zubrman]

When I visited I was not prepared for the sheer magnitude of the evidence of the inhuman treatment given to those killed there. The camp, Auschzwitz, was an army barracks before it was converted to a death camp and therefore it looked quite 'nice' as a complex if you could imagine it without the barbed wire and sentry towers.

But inside the camp you went from building to building which contained huge rooms, each the size of a small semi that were filled to the roof with hair, then another room with spectacles, then another with artificial limbs. Another was full of suitcases with the chalked name and address of the owner, conned into thinking it was relevant to mark it for its future return to them.

I finally walked in to the gas chambers. My wife went with me but hurried through and out the exit and I was left alone. I looked up at the grilles where the Zylkon B used to be sprinkled in and at that time I suddenly felt the presence of hundreds of 'people' in there with me, crammed in but leaving me a small space around me. I felt every hair on the back of my head stand on end. I wasn't frightened, I just felt that those who had died in there were thanking me for taking the time to visit them and and for keeping their existence and memory going.

I will always remember that visit and those that perished.

 

[quiet_riot]

Judging by the papers this morning, there were more journos and photographers there than England players and officials.

 

[M18CTID]

When I visited I was not prepared for the sheer magnitude of the evidence of the inhuman treatment given to those killed there. The camp, Auschzwitz, was an army barracks before it was converted to a death camp and therefore it looked quite 'nice' as a complex if you could imagine it without the barbed wire and sentry towers.

But inside the camp you went from building to building which contained huge rooms, each the size of a small semi that were filled to the roof with hair, then another room with spectacles, then another with artificial limbs. Another was full of suitcases with the chalked name and address of the owner, conned into thinking it was relevant to mark it for its future return to them.

I finally walked in to the gas chambers. My wife went with me but hurried through and out the exit and I was left alone. I looked up at the grilles where the Zylkon B used to be sprinkled in and at that time I suddenly felt the presence of hundreds of 'people' in there with me, crammed in but leaving me a small space around me. I felt every hair on the back of my head stand on end. I wasn't frightened, I just felt that those who had died in there were thanking me for taking the time to visit them and and for keeping their existence and memory going.

I will always remember that visit and those that perished.

It's a horrific place but in some ways I thought Birkenau was actually worse. If you go to Auschwitz you really have to go to Birkenau too. Do the guided tour and they bus you over there from Auschwitz - it's a couple of miles away. We arrived at Birkenau and the first thing that struck us was how vast the place is. It was also at the height of summer and the mercury was nudging 35 degrees Celsius. We must've walked for miles and were exhausted at the end of it but imagine how exhausted the poor people who had to work in that day in, day out were. Imagine how bad it was for them during the winter when the temperature went the other way to minus 20 or minus 30.

Another thing that has been mentioned about Birkenau by some people is the reported absence of wildlife, particularly birds. Some have said it's a myth but from our experience we saw and heard nothing flying over the whole place except when we arrived at the far end of the camp where the woods are. Very eerie.

 

[Bluemanc100]

When I visited I was not prepared for the sheer magnitude of the evidence of the inhuman treatment given to those killed there. The camp, Auschzwitz, was an army barracks before it was converted to a death camp and therefore it looked quite 'nice' as a complex if you could imagine it without the barbed wire and sentry towers.

But inside the camp you went from building to building which contained huge rooms, each the size of a small semi that were filled to the roof with hair, then another room with spectacles, then another with artificial limbs. Another was full of suitcases with the chalked name and address of the owner, conned into thinking it was relevant to mark it for its future return to them.

I finally walked in to the gas chambers. My wife went with me but hurried through and out the exit and I was left alone. I looked up at the grilles where the Zylkon B used to be sprinkled in and at that time I suddenly felt the presence of hundreds of 'people' in there with me, crammed in but leaving me a small space around me. I felt every hair on the back of my head stand on end. I wasn't frightened, I just felt that those who had died in there were thanking me for taking the time to visit them and and for keeping their existence and memory going.

I will always remember that visit and those that perished.

It's a horrific place but in some ways I thought Birkenau was actually worse. If you go to Auschwitz you really have to go to Birkenau too. Do the guided tour and they bus you over there from Auschwitz - it's a couple of miles away. We arrived at Birkenau and the first thing that struck us was how vast the place is. It was also at the height of summer and the mercury was nudging 35 degrees Celsius. We must've walked for miles and were exhausted at the end of it but imagine how exhausted the poor people who had to work in that day in, day out were. Imagine how bad it was for them during the winter when the temperature went the other way to minus 20 or minus 30.

Another thing that has been mentioned about Birkenau by some people is the reported absence of wildlife, particularly birds. Some have said it's a myth but from our experience we saw and heard nothing flying over the whole place except when we arrived at the far end of the camp where the woods are. Very eerie.

Not sure if true but I heard that the amount of lime in the ground is the reason or the lack of wildlife...

 

[Dubai Blue]

Fantastic article by Samuel. It brought a tear to my eye when I read it yesterday. I've never been to Poland so I've not been to Auschwitz, but I did go to Tuol Sleng in Cambodia about 10 years ago. It was the most harrowing experience of my life and testament to the fact that the world never truly learned from the horrors of the second world war.

 

[Mikeegrini]

The people who ran these camps were cowards and very weak minded people.

Unfortunately I don't think that is the case. Human nature 'allows' behavior like this, it's a part of all of us.

That is the lesson my friend and so we should be vigilant so it can never happen again. Places like this must be kept for posterity. I'd add to the list the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, <a class="postlink" href="http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html</a> and has already been said The Killing Fields of Cambodia. There are, unfortunately more.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." Thomas Jefferson

 

[LittleStan]

The people who ran these camps were cowards and very weak minded people.

Unfortunately I don't think that is the case. Human nature 'allows' behavior like this, it's a part of all of us.

That is the lesson my friend and so we should be vigilant so it can never happen again. Places like this must be kept for posterity. I'd add to the list the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, <a class="postlink" href="http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html</a> and has already been said The Killing Fields of Cambodia. There are, unfortunately more.

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." Thomas Jefferson

We need to remember that Auschwitz was the end not the beginning and with that in mind we can think how humanity reached this end, over and over again throughout history.

It starts with bullying, belittling people apparently 'not as good as us', race, colour, disability, social status or whatever reason you want to choose.

I don't actually want to visit Auschwitz but feel it is a place I need to visit because what I do or say to somebody tomorrow could have very horrible unwanted consequences one day.

 

[Unknown_Genius]

when you put it like that it sounds like a car scrap/salvage yard, absolutley harrowing!

I have never understood why they have never demolished these camps, I understand when peole say why try to erase it from history, but surley they could have built permanent memorials or something similar to the victims on the sites, or is that me being to simple minded?

I would assume that maybe they spoke with survivors / victims families before deciding to keep the camps intact, and it was their descions to leave them as they were?

I've never been been as I've never been to that part of Europe, but in my view they should NEVER EVER be demolished.

the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again

George Santayana.

That quote is now inscribed at Auschwitz and I could not agree more with its sentiments or its relevance to Auschwitz.

It should stand as the ultimate testament to the dangers of racism, of dehumanisation by meaningless differences, of human cruelty, of blindly following orders of a government, in allowing your country to be gripped by totalitarianism and many other things. We can never forget these lessons.

Its a damn shame we haven't. I know this sounds strong, but post 9/11 USA has some worrying signs of Nazi Germany though obviously not to the same extreme extent. All the things you've listed there have taken place since then, and the trend looks to continue. Looks like we haven't learnt our lesson.